


Just A Snowy Day in the Coffee Shop

by cdnlc323



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Chaptered, Coffee Shops, Fanfiction, Fluff, M/M, Snow, Snowed In, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-26
Updated: 2016-01-26
Packaged: 2018-05-16 03:09:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5811385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cdnlc323/pseuds/cdnlc323
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis is a uni student and Harry works in a local coffee shop. Louis randomly slips outside of the coffee shop and endless wintery fluff ensues! This is my first fic so I hope you all enjoy! -C</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just A Snowy Day in the Coffee Shop

Louis was tired of people. He didn't hate them... but with the pressure of exam week at Uni as a senior and the ridiculous amount of couples walking all over campus, he just wanted to be alone. The couples were intoxicating – everywhere someone was cuddling, kissing, holding hands and he wanted to go up to each one of them and scream at them to get a room; which was an impolite thought and unnecessary, as they really did nothing wrong, so he just put headphones in as he walked back to his dorm. Louis hated how he had become this way, so cynical about love. As Ewan McGregor's voice filled his headphones, he thought of his favorite musical, Moulin Rouge. The wind whipped around his body and he felt cold to the core, he just wanted to be able to go home and fall into the arms of a man he loved. As said in Moulin Rouge, "the greatest thing you will ever learn is the love and be loved in return". Well, that's a great idea and all but "being loved in returned" is a little harder than one would think, Louis thought bitterly.

He had been in love once – damn, looking back on it now he didn't know if it even qualified as love. He regarded his one (and only) boyfriend, Ryan, in his junior year of high school as his "true love". He was a total twat but Louis was too enamored with his chiseled jaw and good looks to notice anything wrong. He wanted to feel wanted, yet he never realized that there was nothing more than the physical part of their relationship. They had dated for eight months and Louis gave him everything and trusted him with all his fear and secrets until he walked in on Ryan fucking another guy. Louis was speechless and tears brimmed his eyes – he was too stunned to move. Ryan tried to apologize but Louis would not have any part of it. He hadn't spoken to him since that day – the day he decided that love was purely shit.

He was brought out of this pathetic sulk-fest as he approached his dorm room, hearing loud music and his dorm mate Niall talking loudly to someone. Louis groaned internally, of course today of all days would be when Niall would be partying it up. But shit, Niall was constantly happy, the cheeky lad would always have a beer and a laugh with you – he wasn't quite the serious type.

"Aye lads look, Tommo is back!" Niall shouted to his friends. Niall stood on the far side of the room, faded green plaid shirt hung loosely off his shoulders and a bottle of beer clutched between his fingers.

They all looked at Louis and raised a beer then continued on with their noisy chatter. Louis sighed. He just wasn't in the mood.

He pulled Niall aside, as much as he could in the small room, "Niall, honestly how late are you guys going to be up?" Louis asked, already knowing the answer.

"Aye Louis, cut me some slack, the lads here want to unwind - it is Friday mate – grab a cold one and chill out", he stated as he took another swig of his beer.

That settled it. Louis was going out. He had no fucking idea where but Niall's happy-go-lucky mood was nauseating.

Louis walked to his messy side of the room and searched around for something decent to wear. He kept his black skinny jeans on, grabbed a clean-looking white shirt, and reached into his closet for his favorite old jean jacket with nubby fleece lining. Classic. He also grabbed his backpack and figured he should find a quiet place to study with exams looming over his head.

"Later Niall." Louis called as he squeezed toward the door.  
He was met with uproarious laughter as Niall and the lads started comparing the "most attractive" girls in the dorm. Typical. Nobody seemed to give a fuck about their exams, as they really should. He grew more frustrated with each step and barged into the unforgiving cold in search of some place quiet.

...

It was past 9pm and Louis still found himself wandering the streets of downtown London, seriously wondering how he had become such a loner. "I should go back to my dorm and down a beer and just forget about everything, just let it go for one night" he told himself, but for some reason he just couldn't. Something was making him wander the streets of London like a fucking loser and he really hoped to figure it out soon because it was bitterly cold and he rushed out of the dorm without a hat, scarf, or gloves and he was regretting it. He reached into his front pocket to grab his headphones so he could just numb his mind and listen to music. In that moment that he looked down, his foot caught on something on the sidewalk and he went sprawling. He put his hands out to break his fall and the icy cold of the sidewalk knocked the wind out of him. He lay there, mildly stunned on the cold ground for a moment as he got his bearings. His hands were quite scraped up and a few drops of blood started beading on his skin. Having his heavy backpack on top him didn't help his current situation. He regained his breath, pushed himself up, and looked around for the cause of his fall. As he brushed himself off, he saw a piece of cutout cardboard with the words Cozy Cuppa Coffee boldly printed on it in thick black marker. There was masking tape on it and, looking up, it seemed that someone had tried to tape it to the outside of a little shop he had never seen before. Based off the name on the cardboard sign, Louis determined that the little shop was a coffee shop. He figured he should try to return the handmade sign. He brushed himself off, grabbed the damn cardboard, and pushed the door open. There was a bell that hung on the door and it jingled as Louis stepped inside.

Louis didn't even register the sound as he looked around the slice of heaven that he literally just stumbled into. He was enveloped by the warm air and the delicious aroma of fresh coffee and baking pastries. The two side walls were stripped bare to the brick and the back wall was a floor to ceiling bookcase with one of those ladders that rolled across the top bookshelf. The bookshelf was a mess of old books that somehow looked perfect. The plain white ceiling had some cracking paint, and industrial-style lights were muted, giving the room a soft glow. He slowly walked into the coffee shop. On the right, there was a cluster of couches and chairs by the window. Behind that, there was a old, worn out piano sitting atop an oriental rug. In the back corner, behind the piano, there seemed to be a reading nook, blankets and giant pillows were thrown in a huge comfy pile. His eyes glanced to the left and he saw a long picnic-style table, literally the perfect place for him to spread his books and Mac and study for exams. In the back corner, the coffee counter stood, with the pastries all lined up. Surprisingly, the store was empty. As Louis looked at the coffee counter, the swinging door (that presumedly led in the kitchen or something) swung open and a tall boy backed out of it, carrying a cake of some sort. He placed the cake on the back counter and started humming to himself. Louis, feeling awkward, coughed lightly. The boy whirled around, wide eyed, the icing tube in his hand fell to the floor, and he grasped the counter behind him.

"Holy - um, oops, sorry, hello, I, um, didn't expect anyone to be here", the boy managed to get out.

He had his hand over his heart and tried to gain some composure. Louis barely noticed. The boy was stunning. His hair was pulled back in a half bun (such a hipster) and Louis could see the loose curls cascading down on either side of his face. He wore a flour and butter stained white apron over his simple black t-shirt and black skinny jeans. _Very_ _tight_ skinny jeans that Louis tried not to stare at for too long. 

"Sorry to startle you but I just... um.... tripped over this", Louis gestured to the cardboard sign in his hand, "and I felt like I should return it". He subtly glanced up at the boy, deciding that he was probably 19 or so, but tall enough to pass as early 20s.

The boy's eyes instantly shot up and he looked at Louis.

"Oh! Thank you so much! I probably shouldn't have tried to put it up but we literally just opened like a week ago and I'm like in charge of the store for the first month because I'm majoring in business administration and part of our exam is to see if we can apply the skills we learned in class in real life and I felt like I needed to advertise the coffee shop to attract costumers and -"

"Whoa yeah no problem mate. Uh just - here you go", Louis said as he handed him the piece of cardboard. 

As the boy took the sign from Louis' hand, Louis realized that he had underestimated the "small scratches" that he thought were on his palm from his wipeout only moments before. There turned out to be quite large cuts and Louis had no idea the cardboard had been soaking up all the blood.

"Thanks man - Jesus Christ - look at your hand! Shit is that from you tripping over the sign? I'm so terribly sorry! Here - shit I'm so sorry - come here", the boy said.

Louis wanted the ground to swallow him up right there. Of course, being the klutz that he was, only he would cut up his hand by not looking where he was going. Of course. But the boy just looked at him so earnestly so Louis felt pulled toward the counter where the boy had somehow come up with a first aid kit and was rummaging through it.

Louis' feet creaked over the old worn down wooden floor, and he made his way to the counter. The boy - he really needed to get his name - was pulling out some antibacterial wipes, antiseptic cream, a Q-tip, and gauze. Louis was quite unsure on what to say, so he wordlessly put his hand on the counter. He had to admit that his hand was bleeding, the droplets of blood were again beading on his palm. The boy reached over and starting wiping the blood off Louis' hand.

Louis looked up after a pause and said, "So... name?"

"Yes, they are generally things people have," the boy replied distractedly as he cleaned Louis's hand.

"I mean, ah, what's yours?" Louis asked shyly. Damn, he knew he was blushing, and he was blushing hard.

"Harry.. Harry Styles," the boy replied with a shy smile as he cleaned the blood off of Louis' hand, "I would shake your hand, but it seems to be occupied at the moment."

Louis looked down, the bleeding had stopped and he thought it looked fine but the boy - Harry - insisted that it be cleaned with hydrogen peroxide to prevent any infection.

"This might sting..." Harry warned.

Louis replied after a deep breath, "It's better than an infection, right?" He gritted his teeth as Harry started over the wound with the peroxide. He figured making conversation with the very attractive boy who was cleaning his palm was the proper thing to do in this situation, right?

"So what's your favorite drink? Louis inquired, "I mean like coffee drink."

Harry giggled, this boy _giggled_ and replied, "I, ah, actually don't like coffee." Louis pretended to look offended. "Okay hear me out, I enjoy making coffee, like measuring it out and pressing the coffee, but I can't stand the taste. I am much more of a tea person."

Louis pretended to be offended, "A coffee hater is running a coffee shop?! There is something wrong with tha- OW!"

"Sorry! Sorry!" Harry replied as he wrapped Louis' hand in , "I think it's good now. Just hold this gauze on the cut for a moment. I was making a green tea latte before I was putting the cake away. Wait here, you're getting a tea to-go, everyone must be educated about the perfection of a good tea latte!"

He swept into the back kitchen and left Louis in a daze. Before Louis could even get his thoughts together, Harry was back with two to-go cups of tea, and plopped one down in front of Louis.

Harry was grinning ear to ear as Louis picked up the cup (with his good hand) and took a sip. Also, Louis noted, keeping eye contact with a man you recently met while sipping tea is more intimate than one would think. However, when the creamy tea hit his lips he couldn't stop the smile from spreading across his face. It was perfect, the strong flavors of the tea were infused with the light creamy milk and Louis had never tasted something this delicious in his life. 

"That, without a doubt, was the best latte I have ever had." Louis confessed. 

"The secret is using soy milk, Harry explained, "The natural sweetness works perfectly with green tea to create the perfect warm drink!" 

"Well, it's spectacular, no doubt about it" Louis complimented. His eyes wandered behind Harry and widened as they landed on the clock on the wall. 

"It's nearly 11 o'clock, so I guess I should head back to my dorm and let you close up shop. Thank you for everything!" Louis stated.

Louis grabbed his coffee off the counter and he and Harry held eye contact for a little longer than necessary until Harry slightly coughed and Louis looked down and blushed. Louis walked toward the door and Harry called after him, "See you around Louis!"

Louis smiled to himself as he clutched his tea latte and called back over his shoulder, "See you around Harry!"

Louis heard the door bell ding behind him as he stepped back out into the chilly night air. He was blushing all the way back to his dorm, and it wasn't just from the cold.

 


End file.
